Over the years, I’ve seen many a video game character give his life either for me, or the good of the narrative. I also love lists. So I combined the two things, and thought I’d discuss the deaths of characters that tugged the most at my heart strings. I stress that this is in no particular or ranking order.

SSgt Griggs/Gaz – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

I may possibly get some heat for putting a death from a COD title in here, and some people might say that the death of Soap in MW3 was more emotional, especially after building up a three game relationship with the Mohawk sporting hard man, but for me because there was an entire level that lead to his eventual death it felt dragged out and pretty much inevitable, with no real shock value or weight accompanying the moment where Captain Price eventually gives up administering CPR. It was more shocking and brutal to me playing as Soap in COD4, lying on a road, helpless, defenceless and just having to sit back and watch the cinema of war unfolding, with the uncomfortable back to the wall feeling slowly encroaching and having to watch Griggs, after all the times he’d covered my back throughout the game, take a deadly Russian bullet to the face. The death of Gaz was much more brutal after being pretty much put down by Zakhaev, but seeing as he was more or less spiritually succeeded by Ghost in MW2 (who also ironically died in just as harsh a fashion) it eased the pain a bit.

Noble 6 – Halo: Reach

Again, many people may argue that Cortana’s death in Halo 4 was much more dramatic and substantially, more so because it was sacrificial to Chief and a pivotal moment in the series, making Chief question his mission, his morals and himself. However (again for me personally) as soon as it was implied or suggested that Cortana’s lifespan was coming to an end, I think it became fairly obvious it was only going to end one way. Not for a moment saying that her “death” wasn’t emotional or heartfelt, I personally just saw the narrative heading in that direction quite early on. In my humble opinion, the saddest death in the Halo series is that of Noble Six. The whole time you’re playing the game, if you’re aware of the lore of Halo, you know there isn’t going to be a happy ending, almost putting an underlying vibe of pessimism on all of your actions, especially as the characters themselves are naturally oblivious to the outcome, it almost becomes hard to play as your actions are physically driving them towards their deaths and the valiant fall of Reach itself. Every member of Noble team’s death is unique, Jorge’s sudden sacrifice, Kat’s incredibly abrupt headshot, Carter’s almost unacknowledged kamikaze dive bomb and Emile’s Easter egg like body propped up against the wall. The fact that you play as Noble Six makes it harder to take as no matter how hard to fight or how long you play the epilogue, he is tragically overwhelmed by Covenant forces. You can take some solace knowing you’re sacrifice ultimately played a bigger part in the fight against the Covenant.

Nicole – Dead Space

This is one of my favourite games on the 360, it struck just the right balance of everything. A great survival horror game that managed to juggle both difficulty, resource management, fear, skilled gameplay and most importantly was fair about it, the hardest difficulty was a test of skill without becoming ridiculously demoralising and cruel, unlike something like say Dark Souls or Devil May Cry which almost border on sadistic. The implementation of Nicole was very clever. To state a fact, she was the reason for the game. The very motive for Isaac Clarke being aboard the Ishimura was to repair the ship and save his girlfriend. A simple yet reasonable, understandable and human motive. How the plot blended the shroud of her existence in with the game was very clever, drip feeding reminders of her in to the game, teasing you with a breadcrumb trail of interactions of being so near yet so far. It didn’t even really occur to me that Nicole might be dead since it was done that subtly and dare I say it was borderline cheeky. The moment of realisation to Isaac that he was deceived (by his own mind no less) in to thinking Nicole was still alive I genuinely felt a deep sadness for him, as it was his own desire to rescue his love that created the illusion of her life in the first place.

John Marston – Red Dead Redemption

This ranks up there with one of the saddest moments I’ve ever experienced in all my years of video gaming. One of the finest games I’ve played, I consider RDR a masterpiece. A truly authentic recreation of the Old West, with everything from the setting, the time and era, the colourful characters, the narrative, weapons, animals, environments, everything had an incredibly genuine and handcrafted feel to it. I was emotionally dubious when John “settled” everything with his past and his old gang, finally cutting his ties with both them and the government. The best way I can describe the fairly mundane missions of teaching your son Jack to farm, hunt and take care of himself are done with a black cloud looming in the distance, slowly drifting towards John’s life. The worst thing about the whole sequence is that John already knows what is to come, but makes his family flee and still defends his life, everything he’s worked for along with the unpayable debts created by the sins of his past. John Marston for me is the most relatable and human protagonist Rockstar have ever made, purely because he is doing none of the events of the game for himself. His entire journey is to rid him of his past mistakes and earn a life for his family. The sad thing is you are semi-aware from the start that John himself probably knows that the government won’t follow through with their promise to pardon him and let him continue his life, but he has no choice but to act for his family’s sake. John’s face before bursting through the barn doors into bullet time and attempting to take down the government marshals before falling to his knees, covered in blood, passing in to legend, but not before locking eyes with the man who orchestrated everything about his downfall, with no words being said, is a truly heart wrenching and shocking series of events. Possibly the most cinematic moment I’ve ever witnessed in a video game.

Dominic Santiago – Gears of War 3

I did say there was no ranking order to this list, but this is by far the saddest death and indeed the saddest moment I’ve experienced playing video games. The whole scene isn’t just made from the events that transpire before with lambent forces surrounding Delta squad on all sides, but for those who played the two games before and followed Dom’s tragic personal subplot, it had been tailor made for Dom to end his own suffering, just as he ended Maria’s, by giving the team the chance to escape in return for his ultimate sacrifice. The piece which lasts around five minutes, has everything a true dramatic death should. The music which slowly builds and surrounds it, Dom realising his opportunity, Marcus in return frantically figuring out what his best friend is thinking of doing, the chaos of the piece adds tremendously to the emotional magnitude. Dom speaking his last words to Maria, the crash, the flames, the slow motion explosion that confirms Dom’s demise. The apex of the scene is when Marcus is held back by Anya, who protests “Marcus! Marcus he’s gone!” and “It’s ok Marcus…it’s ok”. No more is said by Fenix other than “…Dom…”. Barely any action, words or acknowledgement is seen throughout the rest of the game. Just when you’ve forgotten about it, you meet back up with Baird who asks “Hey, where’s Dom?”. This is (so far) the only video game moment I have ever cried at. And I still cry when I see it now.

All of the above have their names proudly inscribed on my gaming memorial wall. More importantly, which names are on yours? Pay your respects to your favourite fallen characters in the comments.

As we revel in the emergence of the new generation of consoles, I thought I'd take a look back on some of the Xbox 360 games who's multiplayer have consumed hours of my life, made me break controllers in fits of rage quits and punch the air in jubilation as I crush my opponents in to virtual nothingness.

Gears of Warseries: Admittedly Gears has had its ups and downs. The first was a delivery of harsh, raw gameplay, the second plagued by persistent online problems, the third a triumphant return to form and Judgement a toned down yet fast paced affair. However, for me, it is the premier third person shooter. Played at breakneck pace with a huge assortment of maps and varied weapons that are fun to use and incredibly enjoyable to master (not to mention all the cool unique executions), it's unforgiving nature is brutal for beginners but rewards those who stick around to master the art of the COG. Few series deliver consistent multiplayer modes, so it's a credit to Epic that they satisfied such a demanding audience. Whether you want the simplicity of the first game, the character/weapon skins and maps of the third or the lightning quick hit and run style of Judgement (don't play Gears 2), there's a Gears game for everyone.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare: The one that started it all, the simplicity of COD 4 is what made it so appealing. The whole set up of the online and the fair and more level playing field that existed back in the days of yore, mainly in the form of the weapons and perks, from the MP5 and the AK-47 to the powerful snipers (with or without ACOG) like the R700 and Barrett .50 Cal, there was a weapon for everyone. The maps available were also different and engaging, hiding prone in the helicopter on Crash, dying over and over on Shipment or sniping from the back of the map on Bog, all the playgrounds on hand were a mix of size, structure and intensity. Call of Duty has seen numerous multiplayer variations, and many will praise the accessibility of Black Ops I with it's credit system or the expansive maps and vehicles in World at War. The huge array of weapons, kill-streaks and pro perks of MW2 were a great step up, but this allowed players to exploit specific methods (all those marathon lightweight pro people out there know who they are). For me, Infinity Ward gave a generous and balanced set up, and laid the groundwork for what is now the most played multiplayer online series in console gaming.

Halo 4: Many will disagree and say that the old school Halo 3 multiplayer or the revamped Halo Reach online deserves to be mentioned, but 343's take on Bungie's epic was a much more personalised version of the solid multiplayer they took over from. Borrowing from the style of Black Ops and having Spartan Points to unlock different class items like weapons, perks, equipment etc. allowed for players to express their play styles, making for more diverse fire fights. Calling in ordinance, using active camo and carrying two primary weapons was just one of the possible loadouts you could equip yourself with. Bungie built the foundations of the Halo multiplayer and some may say that is the true Halo online, but 343 took the raw template and brought some freedom to the table.

Left 4 Dead: Valve's take on the zombie apocalypse was tense enough to play in single player with some friends, getting all twitchy with the flash-light upon hearing the cough of a Smoker, but that tension increased tenfold when you knew a devious 12 year-old was in the control of the lanky undead's mankey tongue. L4D's online allowed for co-ordinated play between the infected, almost verging on cruel as you terrorised the desperate survivors as they bumble their way to the safe room. Most online modes let experienced and skilled players to excel at the game based on practice, but L4D relied on communication and vigilant teamwork, going alone would usually end up with a hunter pinning you helplessly to the floor whilst you watch your health bar gradually drain away. There are few multiplayer games that serve up insurmountable tension with their gameplay and punish those who refuse to work as part of a team.

Max Payne 3: This pick may be a surprise, but Rockstar's epic single player delivery had a very competent online mode to accompany it. Beginners may find the online soul crushing, especially when you're dual wielded in the back for the fourteenth time, but finding a balanced loadout that suits your style of play and dominating a team deathmatch is extremely satisfying. Mixing equipment, weapons, attachments, loadout weight (which affects health regeneration speed), perks, kill-streaks and armour all lend themselves to constructing a fully customised multiplayer badass. Leaping around in bullet time off a railing and popping two bickering enemies in the chest is a feeling I seldom experience on any other games, and it never gets old. Plus, everything's better in slow motion.

So that's my main top five of the Xbox 360's life. Do you agree? Did you think the unique Dark Souls "multiplayer" was a crowning achievement in PvP history? Maybe you have a soft spot for BioShock2's online splicer slaying? Feel free to let me know in the comments.

Kinect games have not exactly enjoyed an illustrious career. Games like Rise of Nightmares, The Black Eyed Peas Experience and Hulk Hogan's Main Event all leaving a rancid taste in the mouths of Xbox 360 gamers. The horizon looked brighter with the arrival of the Xbox One, but Fighter Within dashed all these new heightened expectations and kept the trend of criminally subpar and/or painfully boring Kinect games going. To be fair, the 360's Kinect was flawed and more effort than it was worth, requiring an unrealistic amount of space and the need to hire a moving crew to rearrange your living room furniture. Now however, I believe Microsoft should poise their current Kinect 2.0, with it's substantially upgraded hardware, as a more helpful sidekick rather a bumbling centre stage superhero.

So far most of the launch titles have gone about their integration of the new tech fairly well, with Dead Rising 3 using voice commands for things like menu navigation, shortcuts and a novel way of getting zombies attention by shouting at them. FIFA '14 allows you to make formation changes, access pause menu features and make substitutions mid game without stopping the flow of your football. It's features like this I feel Kinect more than comfortably weaves itself in to the tapestry of gameplay, making navigation easier and adding in simpler and (naturally) more novel ways to do things. By centring gameplay solely around the Kinect functions (other than the family fun titles like Kinect Sports) it's frailties quickly reveal themselves. Cracks appear, people get frustrated and games don't played.

Largely the Kinect 2.0 on the Xbox One has been a main feature of the home navigation of the console itself, rather than being shown off in a main stage game (other than the aforementioned Fighter Within but that was quietly swept under the rug). So far the voice navigation has impressed me, with the fine tuning from updates and the data collection of Microsoft allowing the tech to be periodically refined. I'm hoping that developers when thinking of how to incorporate Kinect in to their games, they should flow naturally and support the player's experience, rather than being a cheap gimmick that feels like its been crowbarred in. Kinect should make gamers' lives easier, not turn it in to a craggy plethora of swearing and arm flailing.